April Bank Rep Production Holds Steady

Bank-based advisor production rose 2% in April from March’s boisterous $32,296, according to the Bank Insurance and Securities Association’s latest Productivity Benchmark report, the data for which is compiled by Kehrer-LIMRA.

The results aren’t much of a surprise—back when March’s numbers came out, Scott Stathis, managing director and chief operating officer of Kehrer-LIMRA, predicted that while April wouldn’t match March’s unusually high sales—which were 29% higher than in February—April’s production figures would get a bump from quarterly fee payments. Indeed, bank reps’ commission-only figures slipped 11% to $19,722 in April from March.

Heywood Sloane, BISA’s managing director, says that advisors in the organization’s monthly rep panel predicted as much: The number of advisors predicting a better month ahead in March dropped 16% to 53%, meaning that only around half were bullish about April.

May’s production figures are as unpredictable as that month’s market conditions, though, Sloane continues. “I wouldn’t predict a number, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was lower,” he says. “From what I’ve heard anecdotally, May was not kind to advisors.”